There are very different developments of these types of clips. Thus, for example, DE 10 2006 012 020 shows a pair of clips, the two clip arms being pivotable into non-separated axes and the closing force being held in the closing position by means of a spring. As these types of spring elements frequently do not meet the demands for hygiene required in bottle filling installations, efforts are made to propose other closing mechanisms. Thus, in an expensive development, DE 10 2005 041 929 provides permanent magnets that support both the closing and the opening in different pairings. In this solution the permanent magnets are positioned outside the clip grabbing arms.
To support the opening force of the clips, one solution according to DE 20 2005 002 924 U or DE 10 2005 014 838 A provides that repelling magnets are positioned between the grabbing region of the clips and pivotal axes. In the case of these kinds of clips, there is a certain requirement for lateral yielding, as the participating elements are frequently driven by way of servo motors that do not always run in a precisely synchronous manner. This means that there can be a small misalignment, for example between a transfer star, a filling machine or the like. Small reference circles produce curve-shaped paths for the bottle into the grabbing means, wear and tear on the grabbing means and the transfer being improved by means of lateral flexibility.